


"Stay With Me"

by Rangergirl3



Series: Whumptober 2019 [17]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Keith (Voltron) Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21667501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangergirl3/pseuds/Rangergirl3
Relationships: Allura & Keith (Voltron)
Series: Whumptober 2019 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1506101
Comments: 14
Kudos: 149





	"Stay With Me"

Laser fire whined about her, but all Allura cared about was shutting this escape pod's door.

The mission had been compromised. She and Keith had gone in, together, to see if they could find information about Haggar's latest quinessence weapon, but instead -

Instead, they'd been met by three Druids.

They'd barely made it to the escape pods alive, but whatever happened, they weren't going to just give up and die.

A blast of purple lightning missed her by millimeters as she finally managed to slam the escape pod's doors shut with a final roar of fury.

"We're clear!" she roared over her shoulder. "Keith, get us out of here!"

There was no audible reply, but the shuttle took off immediately. She'd been expecting it, of course, but the sudden acceleration still sent her staggering to one side. She managed to reach out and catch hold of the pilot's chair in time to avoid being thrown all the way to the back of the shuttle, but it was a close call.

Once her head stopped spinning, she realized that something was very, very wrong.

Keith was slumped forwards in the piloting chair, one gloved hand still on the shuttle's control panel. When she shook him by the shoulder, he didn't answer. He didn't even twitch. His head just lolled backwards, and she gasped in shock and dawning fear when she saw the blood on his Blade's uniform. 

* * *

* * *

He'd just completed the initial launch sequence when agony slammed into him. His muscles seized up, and he couldn't do anything except choke out a faint cry as his entire body convulsed.

Somewhere, something was burning.

His fingers spasmed, and his arm jerked wildly. The launch sequence screamed into life even as the lever broke off in his hand, but Keith didn't even notice.

He couldn't breathe. 

He couldn't think.

Ages ago, he'd been struck by an offshoot of a Druid's lightning blast. It had almost destroyed his hand.

This was exponentially worse.

_It felt like his blood had been turned into liquid magma._

Even after his muscles stopped seizing, he couldn't even scream.

_He couldn't get any breath into his lungs._

* * *

Voices.

_Allura?_

He still couldn't breathe.

_He wanted to. His lungs just wouldn't work._

Noise.

Movement.

_He tried to speak, but no words came. His mouth moved, but no sound came out._

More movement near him. Quick, harsh motions.

_He couldn't understand what was going on._

Light. Shadows.

_Darkness began to blur the corners of his vision._

Allura's voice, scared and high, but very, very close to him.

"Stay with me, Keith."

_I...can't..._

Something settled over his face, sealing itself over his nose and mouth.

_Memories. Bad ones._

Fear whited out his vision. He couldn't see anything anymore.

_He was back in the hospital. He was alone. The doctor said he had to be kept calm. He'd been held down, forced to breathe in a sedative through a mask just like this one._

Panic seized him.

**_No!_ **

Even as he struggled, the person standing by him settled the palm of her hand more firmly over the mask. The palm of her other hand pressed down against his forehead. 

"It's all right, Keith, this will help - just - "

_The words sounded as if they were coming from somewhere far away._

Keith tried to twist his head away from her, frantic to escape.

_Please, no, not again, please, please, please, no no no no no_

"Keith, I'm sorry."

Hands, strong and and firm, held the mask firmly in place over his nose and mouth. Keith thrashed, weakly, but it was impossible to move.

_He couldn't get away._

* * *

* * *

Keith shuddered, but whether it was from fear alone or also from the lack of air was impossible to tell.

Allura bit her lip, but kept up a strong, reassuring voice.

"Stay with me, Keith. Please."

But as the oxygen made its way into his lungs once more, Keith only shivered in reply.

* * *

* * *

When the darkness finally took him, Keith was glad for it.


End file.
